RATIO
654
RATIO
1774): Idem, Versuch einer freier theologischen Lehrart (Halle,
1777): Staudun. Ge^ch. des Rationalismns u. SupranaturaUsmjis
(Gottingen, 1826); Tholuck, Vorgesrh. des Ratianalismus (Halle,
1853-62): Benn. History of Rationalism in the Nineteenth Century
(London, 1906). FRANCIS AVELING.
Ratio Studiorum. — The term "Ratio Studiorum" is commonly used to designate the educational system of the Jesuits; it is an abbreviation of the official title, "Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu ", i. e. " Method and System of the Studies of the Society of Jesus". The Constitutions of the Society from the beginning enumerated among the primary objects of the Society: teaching catecliism to chil- dren and the ignorant, instructing youth in schools and colleges, and lecturing on philosophy and theol- ogy in the universities. Education occupied so prominent a place that the Society could rightly be styled a teaching order. Even during the lifetime of the founder, St. Ignatius, colleges were opened in various countries, at Messina, Palermo, Naples, Gandia, Salamanca, Alcala, Valladolid, Lisbon, Billom, and Vienna; many more were added soon after his death, foremost among them being Ingolstadt, Cologne, Munich, Prague, Innsbruck, Douai, Bruges, Antwerp, Liege, and others. In the fourth part of the Constitutions general chrections had been laid down concerning stuches, but there was as yet no definite, detailed, and universal system of education, the plans of study drawn up by Fathers Nadal, Ledesma, and others being only private works. With the increase of the number of colleges the want of a uniform system was felt more and more. During the generalate of Clauchus Acquaviva (1581-1615), the educational methods of the Society were finally formulated. In 15S4 six experienced schoolmen, selected from different nationalities and pro\-inces, were called to Rome, where for a year they studied pedagogical works, examined regulations of colleges and universities, and weighed the observations and suggestions made by prominent Jesuit educators. The report drawn up by this committee was sent to the various provinces in 1586 to be examined by at least five experienced men in every province. The remarks, censures, and suggestions of these men were utilized in the drawing up of a second plan, which, after careful re\nsion, was printed in 1591 as the "Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum". Reports on the practical working of this plan were again sent to Rome, and in 1599 the final plan appeared, the "Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu", usually quoted as "Ratio Studiorum". Every possible effort had been made to produce a practical system of education; theory and practice alike had been consulted, suggestions solicited from every part of the Catholic world, and all ad\'isable modifications adopted. The Ratio Studiorum must be looked upon as the work not of individuals, but of the whole Society.
At the present time the question of origin is a favourite topic of historical investigation. It has been asserted that the Ratio was modelled chiefly on the theories of the Spanish Humanist, Luis Vives (see Vives, Ju.\x Luis), or on the plan of the famous Strasburg "reformer" and educationist, John Sturm. No such dependence has been proved, and we can unhesitatingly point to other sources. The method of teaching the higher branches (theology, philos- ophy, and the sciences) was an adaptation of the system prevailing in the great Catholic universities, especially in Paris, where St. Ignatius and his first companions had studied. The literary course is modelled after the traditions of the humanistic schools of the Renaissance period: it is probable that the flourishing schools of the Netheriands (Louvain, Liege, and others) furnished the models for various features of the Katio. Certain features common to the Ratio and the plan of Sturm are
accounted for naturally by the fact that the Stras-
burg educationist had studied at Liege, Louvain, and
Paris, and thus drew on the same source from which
the framers of the Ratio had derived inspirations.
Several Jesuits prominent in the drawing up of the
Ratio were natives of the Netherlands, or had studied
in the most celebrated schools of that country. But,
as is e\'ident from the description of the origin of the
Ratio, its authors were not mere imitators; the most
important source from which they drew was the col-
lective experience of Jesuit teachers in various col-
leges and countries. The document of 1599 remained
the authoritative plan of studies in the schools of the
order until the suppression of the latter in 1773.
However, both the Constitutions and the Ratio
e.xphcitly declared that, according to the special
needs and circumstances of different countries and
times, changes could be introduced by superiors.
As a consequence, there was and is a great variety
in many particular points found in different coun-
tries and periods. After the restoration of the
Society in 1814, it was felt that the changed condi-
tions of intellectual life necessitated changes in the
Ratio and, in 1832, the Revised Ratio was published;
nothing was changed in the essentials or the funda-
mental principles, but innovations were made in re-
gard to branches of study. In the colleges Latin and
Greek remained the principal subjects, but more
time and care were to be devoted to the study of the
mother-tongue and its literature of history, geog-
raphy, mathematics, and the natural sciences. In
more recent times still greater emphasis has been laid
on non-Classical branches. Thus the Twenty-third
General Congregation (legislative assembly of the
Society) specially recommended the study of natural
sciences. Non-Classical schools were pronounced
proper to the Society as well as Classical institutions.
In regard to methods, the present general declared
in 1910 that, "as the early Jesuits did not invent new
methods of teaching but adopted the best methods
of their age, so will the Jesuits now use the best meth-
ods of our own time". This voices the practice
of Jesuit colleges, where physics, chemistry, biology,
physiologj', astronomy, geologj-, and other branches
are taught according to the estabhshed principles
of modern science. From this it is clear that
it is not the intention of the Society to make the
Ratio Studiorum stationary and binding in every
detail; on the contrary, it is intended that the edu-
cational system of the order shall adapt itself to
the exigencies of the times.
Concerning the character and contents of the Ratio a brief description must suffice. The final Ratio did not contain any theoretical discussion or exposi- tion of principles. Such cUscussions had preceded and were contained in the trial Ratio of 1585. The document of 1599 was rather a code of laws, a col- lection of regulations for the officials and teachers. These regulations are di\'ided as follows: I. Rules for the provincial superior; for the rector, in whose hands is the government of the whole college; for the prefect of studies, who is the chief assista,nt of the rector and has direct supervision of the classes and everything connected with instruction, while another assistant of the rector, the prefect of discipline, is responsible for all that concerns order and discipline; II. Rules for the professors of theology: Scripture, Hebrew, dogmatic theology, ecclesiastical history, canon law, and moral theology; III. Rules for the professors of philosophy, physics, and mathematics; IV. Rules for the teachers of the sludia inferiora (the lower department), comprising the literaiy branches. In this department there were originally five classes (schools), later frequently six: the three (or four) Grammar classes, corresponding largely with a Classical high school ; then the class of Humani- ties and the class of Rhetoric (freshman and sopho-
